Monday, June 21, 2010

This Father's Day was different. It was a bit melancholy, bittersweet and I am afraid that enough wasn't done to celebrate the wonderful Dad that my children have. He's the only one left and it was felt by both Stephen and I.

We did what we could and tried to make the morning fun with a "surprise" breakfast in bed and a cool "card," while rushing to get out the door to church.

But then Stephen had to go the office and there was also the funeral we were contemplating this Thursday.

We tried Kendrick in his rubber boot in the pool, but it just didn't work. And Stephen decided that he would power wash the patio instead of relax. Maybe that was what he needed to get his mind off of it all. But, the air still hung heavy with sorrow.

I know this feeling all too well and I know it doesn't go away, but the waves do get further apart.

What I also know is that Cavett and Kendrick's Dad is so very self-sacrificing, kind, caring, sweet, strong, trustworthy, perservering, godly. He is the best role model I could ever ask for for my little men. We are truly blessed to have him as the head of our household.

And, Stephen never would have been this type of man if he didn't have it as a role model growing up in his own family.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

We headed to Grand Saline for the day just for the heck of it. Last weekend my men really cought the fishing bug, so that is what we did all day. Only one fish was caught early in the morning by Grandmama and Kendrick, but it was a good size bass.

The rest of the day was filled with being scared of chasing the massive amounts of grasshoppers and Cavett climbed "Raccoon Castle" for the first time all by himself. Looks like he's getting ready for Grandmama's laundry shoot in January when he turns 6!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Last night we took the kids to the movies. It is a very special treat that only happens once or twice a year. We headed to a McKinney theater since their showtime fit our schedule. I failed to realize that we should have gotten there early due to it being the first weekend out. We ended up on the far right side of the screen about 5 rows from the front.

The previews were great and Disney's next movie, Tangled, comes out this fall with a twist on Rapunzel. From there it went into the ever clever animated short, "Day and Night." I love those shorts! Always have me laughing.

Now the movie--I have never been a huge fan of Toy Story. It must have come out while I was in college, and I never really got into it. I think I have even slept through Toy Story 2 while the kids watched it. But, I must say this story line got me and hard! Andy is 17 and is headed off to college and has some decisions to make about where his toys should end up.

Now, I really don't want to spoil the story, but if you are looking at taking your kids, be warned. There is great peril. Kendrick was frightened of the crazy monkey. Cavett cried and hid his eyes during one part. But, the ending is purely touching. I blubbered like a baby during the last ten minutes. Such a sweet ending!

So, all in all I'd give it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. It just depends on your kids ages and how desensitzed they are.

Friday, June 18, 2010

I've been blogging all afternoon. Welcome back. There are about 5 blogs that are new and they are posted on the correct dates, so there may be a blog between something that you have already read. Check them out!

While having a clothes folding session during naptime yesterday, I was urging Cavett to hurry and finish and to quit playing with the coat hangers so that we could do something else. He looks over at me while making his "Barrel of Monkeys" chain and says...

"Just enjoy your life, Mom."

I stopped dead in my tracks. He's right. Why couldn't we have a little fun while we work instead of trying to get to the next thing? I tried to adopt that motto for the rest of the day and things still went pretty good and I still had the sense of accomplishment that drives me. If only he could say this to me every day!

Also, a couple of days ago we were working on his chore chart, paying him accordingly. We had divided up his money and put everything away when I realized I forgot to pay him for an extra job he did in helping me weed the flower beds. I gave him the 25 cents and asked him where he would like to put it or divide it: sharing, spending or saving.

I gave him some time to think about it and then asked, "Well, what are you thinking?"

Cavett said, "I was thinking about Jesus," and he put it in his sharing jar.

He is always putting others first.

I'd like to take credit for his demeanor, his heart. But, he is a child of God who has a connection straight to heaven. Those tiny seeds are planted and he is growing like no one's business and he is ministering to me! It's amazing. I can't wait to see the plans God has for this little one!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kendrick's toe is healing fast and the boot has not slowed him down in the least. He has gotten lots of attention from it and hasn't been to bad for him. For the rest of the family, he's a bit grimey from lack of a full bath and we all have bumps and bruises from him "accidentally" using it against us.

Last Friday before the Ranch we went to see Dr. Campbell and she took a look at everything. It was healing nicely she said and decided to take the stitches out this past Monday after the Ranch weekend. (Kendrick took this picture at the first post-op appointment with my phone while they were trying to get the bandages off the wound.)

He still has the boot and we all hope to get rid of it at our next appointment on Monday. Thank you to all for the prayers and concerns!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Back in the Spring my college roommate and best friend, Renee invited us to the Dallas Children's Chorus Gala. We had a great time at the event and ended up winning an auction item of a weekend at a ranch house up near Lake Texoma with the Trumon and Adrianne and Renee and Chuck. We had such a great time even with Kendrick's boot impeeding full fun. Here's my top ten of the weekend.

1. Feeding really long-horned Longhorns.

2. Reading stories to the littlest ones.

3. Wearing the kids out in the pool.

4. Fresh picked fruit.

5. Dragonflies and Butterflies everywhere.

6. Canoeing, Golfcarting Tree Swinging and Fishing.

7. Adult dinners while the kids are fast asleep.

8. Sharing the ups and downs of motherhood while rocking on the front porch.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

My sister, Candace is having guest bloggers for her blog while she is taking care of her newest addition. Little does she know, but she is doing a better job at blogging than myself. So, here is her blog about her trip to my house. She even took all the pictures!

The Hills are alive with the sound of music. Or is it...

starfall.com

and silly kids

and mommas shooing kids away from sleeping babies

and fun in the sun

and a little girl who sings Little Mermaid songs a hundred thousand times, going under the water and then emerging for the final and dramatic "part of that.... WORLD!!!!"?

I don't know about the hills of Austria, but the Hill Family house was full of all of the above and much more starting well before seven am every day this week. Thanks again, sis. We'll be back soon to make some more crazy noise beautiful music together. And next time, we'll bring Nana. And maybe even KK and William. And we'll take a bigger car. And we won't get lost on I-30. Or stuck in a torrential thunderstorm.

Monday, June 7, 2010

At some point in having boys, I knew my life would lead me to the hospital/emergency room. It was inevitable, especially with how laid back I am and how active my boys are. I was prepared. But, when the moment presents itself, you just really still stand there in shock wondering what to do first.

This morning was just that day. Kendrick rolled into my bedroom at about 7:00 already asking for his cousins, the Chaneys who were to come visit today and then a breakfast request followed closely behind. In my pj's, I got him started on a sippy cup of milk and his favorite cereal bar, but he has a hard time staying in his chair or in this case, stool at the bar. He is up and down constantly. I began unloading the dishwasher and getting things ready for the day. Cavett came in and joined Kendrick for breakfast. At some point while I was at the sink, Kendrick tried to crawl back onto his stool, but instead fell down and pulled it over on top of his foot.

It has happened in the past that he has fallen off many things, but this sounded different. When I rounded the corner of the island, I saw it. Blood and lots of it. I picked him up trying to comfort him and immediately called Stephen's office leaving out the courtesy comments to Trish, the front desk girl. He told me to run it under water and evidently recognized the question in my voice and hurried home to see himself.

I threw on a swim suit-cover-up dress and pulled my sunglasses out of my purse to use as a head band for my greasy hair. We went to his office to X-ray it while we waited for the pediatrician's office to open at 8:30. While I waited in the car with both kids, I posted a pic on Facebook asking "what would you do--pediatrician or ER?" Well, the pediatrician was stacked up and they referred us to a podiatrist nearby. Our appointment was to be at 10. Kendrick still hadn't calmed down or stopped crying. I ran home, grabbed the Tylenol with codine leftover from Kendrick's last ear infection 2 weeks ago, a puzzle for Cavett and a real headband for me. We run back to Dad's office for Cavett to hang out and then find the podiatrist office in the Medical Building attached to Presbyterian Hospital Allen. (That's a blood blister on the bottom of his big toe!)

I fill out the obligatory paperwork while holding a child clutching his baby blanket in only a diaper and a T-shirt with a "bloody flesh wound" of a foot while getting looks from at least 5 other people in the tiny waiting home. I'm thinking, "I should have gone with my instincts and just gone to the ER to begin with." Finally, we are called back and the nurse begins to clean it by just pouring a saline solution over it to get the residual blood off to see what we are dealing with. We take more X-rays and go back to the room. She offers him animal cookies while we wait, but I tell her I had a snack in my purse and I give him the rest of the cereal bar and a Capri Sun Water. Bad idea.

About 40 minutes later, the very sweet, kind, smart, and thorough doctor comes into look, takes me to see enlarged X-rays and decides we need to go to the OR to be able to better see what we are dealing with. She was concerned with the "dirty nailbed" and having a laceration infecting the bone. Deadly combo. She also didn't want to traumatize him into thinking doctors were bad for the rest of his life. I agreed. At this point I change my mind about the ER, glad that I went with someone who took the time to care about my child's emotions as well as wounds.

She gently taped it up and we waited for nearly an hour watching Sesame Street while she made the preparations and secured the anesthesiologist. We then moved to the registration/cashier desk of the hospital to a very kind woman who had deep sympathy for our extraordinary deductible amount. From there we went upstairs for a re-op visit and met our nurse.

By 1:00 we were on our way home to meet our cousins who had already made it to our house. Thankfully, Stephen with Cavett had also met Candace at the house and got everyone fed by the time we got there. Kendrick couldn't have food or drink for 6 hours, which was why I shouldn't have given him the snack earlier. Luckily, Zeke was ready for his nap and Kendrick followed suit. I got a little sun with the older kids and Candace and took a shower.

I woke Kendrick up from his nap and we were back at the hospital by 3:30. I snuggled with him in his bed as we watched Arthur and played on my iPhone. Just as Dad arrived, so did the doctor. We me the anesthesiologist and got his first calming dose and put on his "hat." Evidently, Versdat makes him a bit defiant before the full effect kicks in. Dad carried him as far as he could. Surgery began by 4:45.

The plan was to clean it up and and take off at least one toenail. It ended up though, that both were lacerated, she took both the great nail and the second nail on his right foot off and gave him stitches. It took longer than she expected but I was back in the recovery room with him by 5:20. His first awakening was quite violent with him trying to rip out his IV. I got in bed with him and sang his favorite two songs, "Spirit of the Living God" and "You Are My Sunshine," and by the end of that he was calmed down and sleeping again. 15 minutes later he began to really wake up. He was going to be fine.

We got back to the room, saw Dad and talked to the doctors. 2 weeks with a boot--no swimming or baths. After water, 2 red Popsicles, 8 peanut butter crackers and apple juice all was much better with the world. This is not a children's hospital, but they had all they needed for us. A wagon ride will put a smile on anyone!

We came home to two saints--Candace and my sister-in-law, Amber who had taken care of the rest of the kids. Dinner was completed, toys were being picked up and showers and stories were on their way. Blessed I am for these two!

My little trooper had another 2 bananas and cried about not being able to take a shower with the rest of them. I can only imagine what it is going to be like keeping this fish out of the swimming pool! I gave him more Tylenol and tucked him in bed.

What a day! Not at all what I was planning, but God has his reasons. Maybe it will slow this one down and knock some "careful" into this "bull in a china shop!" I am just so blessed that I had so many friends offer words of encouragements and prayers. I could really feel the enveloping of God's children and their prayers around us. So, thank you to each of you who said a prayer for Kendrick and Stephen and me. We really appreciate you ad know that God answers prayers!

"If you build it they will come." It's a quote made quite often about various things, from some baseball movie that I can't even remember. But, I am saying it about our house/backyard. Since the last day I blogged I have had 5 days of entertaining and 3 of those were between 10-35 adults. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy every lick of it, but it is all engrossing. I've done it to myself. I have no one to blame, but me. And, I can't let anything just slide. I can't buy store-bought-already-prepared food.

My Mom emailed me today and said she missed my blog. I miss it too, but I just haven't had the time.

Last weekend started on Thursday when Stephen had his one year anniversary party for his office.

Friday, we enjoyed in the pool as a family.

Saturday and Sunday were full of friends.

Memorial Day was family and more friends.

We had our first week of no school and then we prepared for Kelli and Joe's baby shower this past Friday night.

I slept 11 hours laast night and it was good sleep. The kind where you don't dream and you don't wake up until a kid crawls in bedd with you at 7:00.

The thing is "gratitude is a twofold love -- love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest." I love entertaining. It's my gift. I think I do it well. And if you are one of my guests and feel like I am saying I don't want you here, you are completely wrong. I guess I just needed to explain why I have been absent from my blog.

Today at the grocery store the little girl pushing my cart out to the car asked me if I had big plans for the summer. I told her, "We are staying in our backyard enjoying our pool and our friends."

We are blessed by God to be able to have such a nice home and a pool and we are blessed in the fact that our friends and family feel welcome and want to spend time with us.

So, welcome one and all to Casa de Las Colinas. I look forward to a summer of a full house.